Bambara States

Bambara states, two separate West African states, one of which was based on the town of Ségou, between the Sénégal and Niger rivers, and the other on Kaarta, along the middle Niger (both in present-day Mali). According to tradition, the Segu kingdom was founded by two brothers, Barama Ngolo and Nia Ngolo. Initially little more than marauding robber barons, the brothers settled sometime before 1650 near the market town of Ségou, on the south bank of the Niger. The Bambara empire extended to include Timbuktu during the reign (c. 1652–82) of Kaladian Kulibali, but it disintegrated after his death.

Mamari Kulibali, known as “the Commander” (reigned c. 1712–55), is regarded as the true founder of Segu; he extended his empire to what is now Bamako in the southwest and to Djénné and Timbuktu in the northeast by forming a professional army and navy and conquering other Bambara rivals and fighting off the king of Kong (c. 1730).

Mamari Kulibali’s death was followed by a period of instability in which several rulers rose and fell in quick succession. Finally, in 1766, Ngolo Diara seized power and restored order to the empire, which he ruled for almost 30 years. Under his son Mansong and his grandson Da Kaba, the Bambara directed their attention southward to the region of the Black Volta River. In 1818 Bambara collapsed before the onslaughts of Shehu Ahmadu Lobbo of Macina.

Some of the rivals defeated by Mamari Kulibali fled to the middle Niger River region and founded (c. 1753) the city of Kaarta near Kumbi. There they created another group of Bambara states, which dominated the lands of the middle Niger into the 19th century.